Ferguson insists Man Utd "not far away from" Barcelona

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson insists they're not far off competing with European champions Barcelona.

Ferguson says United were beaten by an “unstoppable” Barcelona side at Wembley last May; the Catalan club also beat them in the final in Rome three years ago.

In an interview with FIFA.com, he added: “I don’t regret anything we did because they were the better side. The first two goals were entirely avoidable and maybe with a bit of luck we could have won the game, but when the other team’s that bit better than you, then there’s not much you can do about it.

“Barcelona are the best team in Europe, although Real Madrid are closing the gap on them. The lead they’ve got in the league shows that. For the moment Barca have still got that magical ability to play a game that’s beyond everyone else. When Messi, Xavi and Iniesta are on song, they’re just unstoppable.

“We had the ability to go all the way to the final. Luck wasn’t on our side, but we’ve got the ambition to compete with Barcelona and Real Madrid, and I don’t feel we’re that far away from them. I’m sure we’ll show that soon.”